Floydada, Texas

Don Williams, country music performer and songwriter, was born in Floydada, Texas, on May 27, 1939. He was the son of James Andrew Williams and Loveta Mae (Lambert) Williams. His father was listed as a farm laborer in Floyd County on the 1940 census. He grew up in Portland, Texas, and his mother taught him to play guitar. Williams attended Gregory-Portland High School, where he served as vice president of the freshman class. The teenager performed in various bands in the Corpus Christi area. In 1960 he married Joy Janene Bucher. They had two sons, Tim and Gary. With fellow guitarist and singer Lofton Kline, Williams formed a duo known as The Strangers Two and performed folk music at Del Mar College and other venues in Corpus Christi. In 1964 the two teamed up with performer Susan Taylor and established the folk group Pozo Seco Singers . At the height of the folk pop movement, the trio found success in 1966 with the hit "Time"-the B-side to the single "Hello Blues and Down the Road I Go," which was penned by Williams and recorded at Gold Star Studios in Houston. The Pozos toured the United States, and the group's harmonies, enriched by Williams's warm baritone, drew audience approval. After the Pozos disbanded in 1970, Williams worked at his father's furniture store before he signed on as a songwriter for Jack Clement's Jack Music publishing company in Nashville. After Williams initially recorded demos for producer Allen Reynolds, he signed with Clement's JMI Records to record his own songs. His first country single, "Don't You Believe," was released in 1972 and soon followed by his first album, Don Williams, Volume One. Several songs charted, including Williams's own tune, "The Shelter of Your Eyes," at Number 14. One song off that record, Bob McDill's "Come Early Morning" (that charted at Number 12), was also produced as a music video therefore making Williams one of the earliest country performers to do so. A follow-up album, Don Williams, Volume Two , came out in 1973. His rendition of Allen Reynolds's "We Should Be Together" resulted in Williams's first Top 5 hit in 1974. Later that year Wiliams had his first Number 1 song with "I Wouldn't Want to Live If You Didn't Love Me," written by Al Turney-thus launching a string of fifty-six chart-making songs, including seventeen Number 1 hits from 1974 to 1991. His success promoted not only his prowess as a songwriter but also propelled the careers of other tunesmiths, with recordings of Bob McDill's "Say It Again," "It Must Be Love," and the reflective "Good Ole Boys Like Me," as well as Danny Flowers's "Tulsa Time" and Roger Cook's and Sam Hogin's "I Believe in You." Williams's unassuming, down-to-earth manner and rich baritone voice earned him the title of country music's "Gentle Giant," and he was a fan favorite with national and international audiences. He was elected into the Grand Old Opry in 1976 and named the Country Music Association's Male Vocalist of the Year in 1978; his version of "Tulsa Time" was named CMA Single of the Year. Readers of Country Music People , a magazine based in London, named Williams Artist of the Decade in 1980. Williams also had appearances in the Burt Reynolds films W. W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975) and Smokey and the Banditt II (1980). In 1981 he promoted the work of another songwriter, Townes Van Zandt , with his performance with Emmylou Harris on the duet, "If I Needed You,"-a Top 5 hit. After JMI Records, Williams signed with the ABC-Dot label from 1974 to 1978, then MCA (1979-85), Capitol (1985-89), RCA (1989-92), and other labels. His last hit came out in 1991 with "Lord Have Mercy on a Country Boy," but he continued a prolific recording output and performance schedule. Hailed as an "international ambassador of country music," he commanded a strong following in Europe (especially the British Isles), Australia, Latin America, and was one of the few country performers to tour in Africa. In spite of his musical stature, Williams remained

When this county was created in 1876, it was named in honor of Dolphin Ward Floyd (1804-1836). A native of North Carolina, Floyd left his home in 1825 and arrived in Gonzales, Texas, about 1832. He married Esther Berry House and they had two children. In February 1836, Floyd, along with 31 other Gonzales residents, answered Lt. Col. William B. Travis' call for help at the Alamo in San Antonio. During the battle that ensued, Floyd and his comrades were killed fighting for Texas' independence from Mexico. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986

Floyd County is on U.S. Highway 70 northeast of Lubbock in the High Plains region of the Panhandle . The county is bordered on the north by Swisher and Briscoe counties, on the east by Motley County, on the south by Crosby County, and on the west by Hale County. The center of the county lies at 34°05' north latitude and 101°20' west longitude. Floydada is the county seat and largest town. In addition to U.S. Highway 70 the county's transportation needs are served by U.S. Highway 62, State Highway 207, and the Fort Worth and Denver, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and the Quanah, Acme and Pacific railroads. Floyd County covers 992 square miles. The mostly flat land is broken on the east by the Caprock and Rolling Plains and on the south by the White River and Blanco Canyon. The elevation ranges from 2,600 to 3,300 feet. The northeast corner has level to undulating soils, with some clayey subsoils. The remainder of the county has nearly flat terrain and alkaline soils with dark loamy surfaces and clayey subsoils. Vegetation is typical of the High Plains, with moderately short to tall grasses and plenty of mesquite . Between 71 and 80 percent of the land in the county is considered prime farmland; about 500,000 acres is considered arable. The climate is arid and mild, with cool winters and hot summers. Temperatures range in January from an average low of 24° to an average high of 53°, and in July from 67° to 94°. The average annual rainfall is nineteen inches, and the average relative humidity is 73 percent at 6 A.M. and 39 percent at 6 P.M. The average annual snowfall is eleven inches. The growing season averages 213 days per year, with the last freeze in early April and the first freeze in early November. Evidence of prehistoric hunters has been found in Floyd County, which was part of the vast domain of the Plains Apaches and later of the Comanches. Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado is believed to have come through the area in 1541. Quitaque Peak was a familiar landmark to José P. Tafoya and other Comancheros who came from New Mexico to trade with the warlike "Mongols of the West"; indeed, it marked the southern boundary of the notorious Valley of Tears , so named because White captives were separated among various Indian bands or ransomed there by Comancheros. In August 1841 the Texan-Santa Fe expedition members established Camp Resolution near the junction of Quitaque and Los Lingos creeks, in the county's northeastern part, and there made the fateful decision to split into two groups in a desperate bid to reach their objective. In 1871 and again in 1874 Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie 's Fourth United States Cavalry came through Floyd County in pursuit of the hostile Quahadi Comanches. In their wake came hide hunters operating out of Fort Griffin and Charles Rath 's Teepee City. With the Indians and buffalo gone, ranchers entered the area with their free-range cattle outfits. The Baker brothers and O. J. Wiren established the headquarters of the Quitaque (Lazy F) Ranch , later owned by Charles Goodnight and for a time part of the JA Ranch , on the banks of Quitaque Creek. The firm of Owens, Marseilles and Duncan grazed both cattle and sheep on its H Bar L (later the TM Bar) Ranch in Blanco Canyon. Other pioneer ranches that had land in Floyd County included the Two-Buckle and the Matador . On August 21, 1876, the Texas legislature formed Floyd County, named for the Alamo martyr Dolphin Ward Floyd , as one of the fifty-four counties established from the Bexar and Young territories. In 1884 Arthur B. Duncan and his family became the county's first settlers when they located in Blanco Canyon a short distance above Henry Clay (Hank) Smith 's ranch in Crosby County. Since Floyd County at that time was attached to Donley County for administrative purposes, the Duncans and other settlers who soon followed had to go to Clarendon to file on state lands for homes. In the spring of 1887, Thomas J. Brai

Alabama native William P. Daily (1865-1941) and his family arrived in Floyd County in 1911, settling briefly in the Muncy community (5 mi. N). After moving to Floydada to open a feed, coal, and wagon yard, Daily recognized the need for a hotel here. Construction began in 1912, and the hotel opened in January 1913, with 21 guest rooms. Catering mostly to traveling salesmen, Daily transported them from the railroad station in a horse-drawn buggy, and allowed them to display their wares in the hotel lobby. The hotel was renamed The Lamplighter Inn in 1964. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986

The James B. Posey Bank, established in Floydada in the 1890s, became the Floyd County Bank in 1900 when L.T. Lester joined Posey as a partner. In 1903, with the granting of a federal charter, the name changed once again to First National Bank. Lester served as first president, and the original stockholders included Posey, Lester, Columbus Surginer, Will W. Nelson, R. C. Andrews, J. R. Burrus, and John N. Farris, who succeeded Lester as president in 1911. The bank has occupied this site since 1912, and throughout its history has played an important part in Floyd County's development. (1990)